Hand Rail with Light Source Inside the Mounting Bracket and Back Up Power Supply

ABSTRACT

There is provided a hand rail comprising a balustrade defining a hollow tubular cavity; and plural mounting brackets for mounting said balustrade to a support surface of a building. At least one of said plural mounting brackets is provided with at least one light source for emitting guide light therefrom and wherein, a back up power supply for said at least one light source is provided within said hollow tubular cavity. The hand rail is suitable for use in providing emergency lighting for stairways and/or corridors of buildings.

The present invention relates to a hand rail for use in stairways andcorridors, the hand rail including an emergency lighting system.

It is well known to provide a hand rail (e.g. wall-mounted) to stairwaysand corridors of buildings, which provide a means of hand grip andguidance for persons using these spaces. It is also known to provideemergency lighting systems to stairways and corridors that provideillumination thereto in the event of an emergency, which illuminationacts to guide persons to assist their exit from the building. Suchemergency lighting systems are typically mains powered, but ofteninclude battery back up power units that are triggered in the event of afailure of mains power. Emergency lighting may thus, be provided evenwhere the mains power supply fails.

Applicant has now realized that it is desirable to incorporate theemergency lighting system directly into the hand rail so that guideillumination may be directed most effectively to assist exit from thebuilding. In particular, Applicant has realized that light elements ofthe lighting system (e.g. LED lamps) are most effectively housed withina wall mounting of the hand rail. Applicant has also realized that fromthe standpoint of safety, space saving and aesthetics, the battery backup pack is most effectively housed within a hollow cavity of thebalustrade of the hand rail.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided ahand rail comprising

a balustrade defining a hollow tubular cavity; andplural mounting brackets for mounting said balustrade to a supportsurface of a building,wherein at least one of said plural mounting brackets is provided withat least one light source for emitting guide light therefrom andwherein, a back up power supply for said at least one light source isprovided within said hollow tubular cavity.

There is provided a hand rail suitable for mounting within buildings,for example in stairways or corridors thereof.

The hand rail comprises a balustrade. The exterior of the balustradesuitably has a conventional form and is shaped to provide a handsupport/guide for a person (e.g. for use as they proceed along acorridor or down a stairway of the building). The balustrade defines ahollow tubular cavity, the purpose of which will become clearer from thelater description.

The hand rail also comprises plural mounting brackets for mounting saidbalustrade to a support surface of a building. In use, the pluralmounting brackets are spaced along the balustrade. The exact number ofmounting brackets present will to an extent, depend upon the length ofthe balustrade. In general terms, sufficient mounting brackets will beneeded to enable secure mounting of the balustrade to the supportsurface of the building. The support surface is most usually either awall of the building or a mounting framework (e.g. in the form of ametal frame) such as is often found running centrally down the innerpart of a stair well in a building. The mounting includes means forfixing to that support surface, which normally comprise screw holes forreceipt of screw fixing means received by the building support surface.

At least one of the plural mounting brackets is provided with at leastone light source for emitting guide light therefrom. Suitably, all ofthe plural mounting brackets are provided with such at least one lightsource. Preferably, all of the mounting brackets include at least onelight source and the mounting brackets are spaced at regular intervalsalong the balustrade to provide a regularly spaced arrangement of guidelights.

Suitable light sources include lamps such as LED lamps, which arepreferred because of their relatively low power consumption and goodlighting capability. The precise form of each mounting bracket will bedetermined by its functional requirements to enable mounting to asupport surface of a building; to support the balustrade; and tosuitably accommodate the light source for providing guide light.

Suitable, the at least one light source is housed within a cavitydefined by the mounting bracket. Suitably, the form of that cavity isarranged to guide the light emitted by the light source.

In one aspect, the wall mounting bracket comprises a mounting plate formounting to the support surface of a building; an arm for holding thebalustrade up; and a cavity housing for housing the at least one lightsource. Suitably, the arm projects away from the support surface of abuilding and in one aspect is L-shaped. Suitably, the cavity housing forthe at least one light source is shaped to direct light generallydownwards (i.e. towards the floor of the building), and thus to guidethe footsteps of a person, when mounted (e.g. wall-mounted) in normaluse.

In normal use, the light sources are powered by mains power supplyand/or low voltage (converted) power inputs. Cabling is suitably housedas much as possible within the hollow cavity of the balustrade.

A back up power supply for said at least one light source is providedwithin said hollow tubular cavity. Suitably, the back up power supply isshaped (e.g. tubular from) for ready receipt within the cavity. The backup power supply typically comprises a rechargeable battery that isarranged for continual recharge by the mains power supply. In the eventin an emergency of failure of that mains power supply, the back up powersupply is engaged and acts to power the at least one light source toprovide emergency guide lighting. The rechargeable battery typically hasa 5 year lifetime of operation.

Suitably, operation of the hand rail involves regular timed periods ofoperation of the back up power supply to exercise the battery andmaintain it in good condition. A scheduler/timer may be provided forthis purpose.

Suitably, all of the light sources are powered by a single back up powersupply, although variations may be envisaged in which additional back uppower supply units are also incorporated. Suitably, all of therechargeable battery, mains power supply cabling and charger areincluded within the hollow tubular cavity of the balustrade.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective front view of part of a hand rail in accordwith the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective rear view of part of a hand rail in accordwith the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a cutaway view along Section X′-X′ of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown part of a hand rail inaccord with the present invention comprising balustrade 10 defining asingle hollow tubular cavity 12 running along the length thereof. Thebalustrade 10 associates with mounting bracket 20 arranged for mountingthe balustrade 10 to a support surface of a building (not shown).

Mounting bracket 20 comprises flat mounting plate 22 provided withplural holes 24 for screw mounting the plate 22 to a building surface(e.g. wall) and support arm 26 extending horizontally from the plate 22.As may be better seen in FIG. 3, the support arm 26 has an L-shaped fromand is provided at its far end with a generally U-form support 28arranged for receipt of the balustrade 10. It will be appreciated thatthe overall hand rail comprises plural similar mounting brackets 20arranged in spaced fashion for overall mounting of the balustrade 10 tothe building support surface.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2, the rear of the plate 22 may be seento include cable input apertures 30, 32 for receipt of respectively lowvoltage cable 34 and mains voltage cable 36. The front of the plate maybe seen to include a lighting aperture 40 for enabling projection oflight from a light source 50 comprised within the mounting bracket 20,the details of which may be better seen with reference to FIG. 3.

Light cavity 42 provided to the mounting bracket 20 acts to house lightsource 50 in the form of an LED lamp arranged adjacent to guidereflector 52. In use, the light source projects light 54 away from themounting bracket 20 and generally in downwards fashion, as shown.

Low voltage cable 34 provides power to the light source 50. Both the lowvoltage cable 34 and mains cable 36 may also be seen to feed through theinterior of the mounting arm 26 and into tubular cavity 12 of thebalustrade 10 to the back up power supply 60, which comprises a tubularform rechargeable battery 60.

In typical usage mode, the battery 60 is continually recharged by powerfrom the mains power supply 36. In the event of a mains power supplyfailure, low voltage 34 power is transferred to the light source 50,which illuminates to provide guide light as shown. Again, it will beappreciated that the overall hand rail comprises plural mountingbrackets 20 arranged in spaced fashion along the length of thebalustrade 10 and hence, that plural light sources 50 will illuminate toprovide a lighted guide pathway in the event of mains power failure.

1. A hand rail comprising: a balustrade defining a hollow tubularcavity; and spaced along said balustrade, plural mounting brackets formounting the balustrade to a support surface of a building, wherein atleast one of said plural mounting brackets is provided with at least onelight source for emitting guide light therefrom and wherein, a back uppower supply for said at least one light source is provided within saidhollow tubular cavity.
 2. A hand rail according to claim 1, wherein allof the plural mounting brackets are provided with the at least one lightsource.
 3. A hand rail according to claim 1, wherein the at least onelight source comprises one or more LED lamps.
 4. A hand rail accordingto claim 1, wherein each of the plural mounting brackets defines acavity for housing the at least one light source.
 5. A hand railaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the plural wall mounting bracketscomprises a mounting plate for mounting to the support surface of abuilding; an arm for holding up the balustrade; and a cavity housing forhousing the at least one light source.
 6. A hand rail according to claim5, wherein said cavity housing is shaped to direct such as in use, toguide light generally downwards.
 7. A hand rail according to claim 1,wherein the hollow cavity of the balustrade houses mains supply cabling.8. A hand rail according to claim 1, wherein the back up power supplycomprises a rechargeable battery arranged for recharging by a mainspower supply.
 9. A hand rail according to claim 1, additionallycomprising a scheduler for scheduling regular timed periods of operationof the back up power supply.